Special reunion as Kevin O'Sullivan comes up against his beloved Cill na Martra for the first time

WHILE there are many very interesting games over the weekend in the McCarthy Insurance Group football leagues, there is one that is very intriguing.

The Division 1 encounter between Carrigaline and Cill na Martra tomorrow in Carrigaline at 7.30pm mightn’t stand out at first when you have a glance at the fixtures, but both clubs have had great battles down through the years and there is an interesting aspect now with the Carrigaline coach a proud Cill na Martra man.

Kevin O’Sullivan is in his second season training the South East club under the management of Michael Meaney. O’Sullivan played for Cill na Martra for many years and was a key player on the team that won the Muskerry JAFC in 2002 and ’03. He would remain a crucial part of the team in the forward department, well able to do the unseen work and was also capable of kicking scores, and played corner forward in the 2009 IFC final defeat to Carrigaline.

If you spoke to anyone around the club while O’Sullivan was playing, they would have all said the same thing and that he was destined to be an excellent manager/coach. He had that personality and hunger. O’Sullivan hung up the boots in 2016, but he had started coaching back in 2008 with the U16s and slowly worked his way up.

O’Sullivan was the boss when Cill na Martra made history in 2017 by winning the Muskerry U21 A football championship for the first time after seeing off Kilmurry in the final after a replay in what were two outstanding games of football.

The Gaeltacht side would go on and reach the county final, and while it would end in disappointment losing to a star studded Douglas side on a scoreline of 2-11 to 2-6, there was something special building. O’Sullivan was also manager of the intermediate’s in 2017, his first campaign at the helm, where their season came to an end at the semi-final stage, losing to Mitchelstown.

Cill na Martra won the IFC title the following year after beating Aghabullogue in the final, and O’Sullivan stayed in situ until the end of the 2021 season, after taking the side to the PIFC quarter-final in 2019 and consecutive semi-finals.

O'Sullivan, now based in Youghal, got a call from Carrigaline at the start of the 2023 campaign, and it was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. An attractive position, but as things would have it, last year was a case of fine margins, losing narrowly to Éire Óg, Ballincollig and Nemo Rangers in the Premier SFC group stage, and then being defeated by Mallow after a replay in the relegation play-off.

It shouldn’t put a blot in the copy book, and Carrigaline should take inspiration from Newcestown, with the West Cork club bouncing straight back up to the top flight last year after demotion in 2022. But, in the short term, O’Sullivan will be just focused on tomorrow’s league fixture, with both sides on two points apiece after two games.

Both sides met in a cracking 2007 IFC semi-final, which Carrigaline won, and both would meet two years later in the IFC final, with the South East outfit also prevailing that day. But, now, both sides are in the SAFC, and now in the same division in the league after Carrigaline gained promotion from Division 2 last season.

While O’Sullivan will play down the significance of this fixture, it will be strange too at the same time, as he comes up against his own club for the first time. To add another bit of intrigue, O’Sullivan’s former teammate and also a player he coached, Noel O’Leary, is a selector with Cill na Martra.